He’s the heartbeat of Florida’s national championship defense. When times are their toughest, he’s like a rock.
So it’s not surprising that Chevrolet’s Defensive Player of the Year would be junior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes of the Gators, who won the BCS National Championship earlier this month with a 24-14 victory over Oklahoma’s offensive machine led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford.
Spikes, a consensus All-American, racked up 93 tackles, including 52 solos, to lead Florida to its second national championship in three years. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound native of Shelby, N.C., also had four interceptions, returning two for touchdowns. All four of those interceptions came against Top 25 teams, which tied for first among all players nationally, and they were the most by any linebacker in the country.
A finalist for the Bronko Nagurski Award, Spikes was one of five linebackers in the nation to have two interceptions returned for touchdowns last season. He has led the Gators in tackles in 10 of the last 17 games, recording 10-or-more tackles in five of his last 14 outings. Spikes was named an All-American by the Associated Press, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Rivals.com, The Sporting News and Walter Camp and was a first-team All-SEC recipient.
As the leader of the fourth-best scoring defense in the country, Spikes will receive a personalized Chevrolet Defensive Player of the Year trophy, while Chevrolet will also donate $5,000 to the University of Florida’s general scholarship fund.